Make it Easy: Why Board Communications matter
Why don't the board members know all the programs you put on? Why didn't the board president make the fundraising calls like he promised? It's really not hard to understand. The people who volunteer to be on the board have other lives. They do care, it's just that...
2015 Top Time Management Tip
Doesn't it seem like the main reason we go to sleep is to give our email boxes time to refill? Overnight, they fill with advice and articles about time management. Whether it's Harvard Business Review or NonProfit Times or any of a myriad of consultants and software...
Presume Good Will – redux
It's hard to write a blog post in December without somehow bringing in the winter festivals. They are hard to ignore. Whether we observe a festival or not, we get caught up in end-of-year fundraising appeals; endless staff, neighborhood, organization and family...
Can you Blend Millennials and Boomers?
Congratulations! You've built a board with members of every decade of adult life. You have 20-somethings, 50-somethings, 70-somethings, and every decade in between. Now, how do you strategically take advantage of the fresh ideas while integrating them into existing...
A Board Exercise in Gratitude
Where there is no gratitude, there is no meaningful movement; human affairs become rocky, painful, coldly indifferent, unpleasant, and finally break off altogether. The social ˜machinery' grinds along and soon seizes up. Margaret Visser Thanksgiving is an obvious time...
Will your Nonprofit be Here in 30 Years?
Millennials are your future, and bring new perspectives and energy. Now’s the time to look for the fresh faces who will join your board in 2015.
Two Leadership Gems from the Military
Can two lessons from the military help you lead your nonprofit? It’s all in the relationships.
The One Thing Strategic Plans Forget
Ahh, the glorious feeling of looking at the month after next on your calendar and seeing whole empty days. How easy it is to be magnanimous and say yes when asked to take on a job that isn't due for two m onths. So we say yes, and put it on the calendar. When...
Are Your Trustees Smarter than a 6th Grader?
With the start of school, education gets a lot of attention. Keeping up with the sector means perusing the legislative, governance and financial news. It also means listening to the people on the frontlines. While scanning an education site, I was struck by how...
A Faster Horse
I have mixed thoughts about innovation. As much as I tell boards and organizations to be open to innovation, there are risks. Henry Ford is famous for saying, If I had asked people what they wanted they would have said faster horses. There's no evidence that he...
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